The Adventures of Amu and Tadase
by Noir Chandler
Summary: There are some love stories that begin with love at first sight, there are some that begin with heartbreak, and others that begin with loss. But there are some love stories that start very early. When new student, Amu Hinamori transfers to Kokoro Kindergarten, she turns the life of shy Tadase Hotori upside down. But then again, maybe upside down isn't all that bad.
1. Chapter 1

Hello dear readers! For those of you who have already read my other work: Mage Master, I must really apologize for the long delay. I have been unable to write anything at all for the past months. But I have found a new inspiration to keep me updating and, by golly I will update my stories soon.

But I've also been inspired to write this new story. This is a very light project whose chapter updates will be loose. I'll add more cute adventures between the two of these kids later on. After all, I have Mage Master to continue. So, I hope all of you enjoy this little story. Please rate and review! I'd really appreciate that!

**Disclaimer's Note: **I do not own any of Shugo Chara!'s canon characters

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**Chapter 1: Friends Forever**

"Ohayo! I'm Amu Hinamori! Nice to meet you!"

She was a weird girl, that new kid. I watched quietly from my seat, taking in the ridiculous clothes she was wearing. Amu, if I had heard that unusual name right, wore what most of my classmates would never be caught wearing. She sported a long pink sweater that was practically trampled over with red dog paw prints, its length stopping just above her thighs. Following further down, she wore these baggy black pants that almost covered her red-with-pink sneakers. Her piece topper was a red-with-pink-stripes knitted cap. Okay, so it _seemed_ like normal clothes.

The only problem was that those were _winter_ clothes.

I don't think any kid would be wearing that now, in the middle June.

Then there was the hair bit. I've seen kids my age, four or five year olds, have orange hair or maybe even dark blue hair. But she had pink hair. Pink hair. Amu was like an anime character from Naruto come to life or something. She was really…odd. I've seen oddballs in Kokoro Kindergarten come and go, yet all of them pale in comparison to her oddness. She was grinning so cheerfully in her weird clothes, not seeming to notice the curious looks my classmates were giving her. It was really brave of her, flashing adversity with a pretty smile. Her cute honey-gold eyes were brimming with life.

Not that I had noticed, of course.

"Okay, Amu-chan. Why don't you sit with…" My teacher, Kahoko-sensei began looking over our tables. I joined her in looking. I shame myself for admitting it, but I'm a bit nosy. Jun's table had one chair left, though I doubted Kahoko-sensei would put a girl with three boys. Ayumi's table had two available seats. I didn't think Ayumi would be happy sharing it with Amu. Ayumi held pride in being "the fashionablest girl in class" and Amu's taste rubbed her in all the wrong places. Maybe Amu would be with Taka-kun, or perhaps….

"Ah, you can sit with Tadase-kun!"

I whirled my gaze back to Kahoko-sensei, my mahogany red eyes wide with disbelief. Me? Be her seatmate? No. No, no, no. I don't do 'seatmates'. I utterly refused from the bottom of my heart. I did not want a seatmate. I was quite content being by my lonesome in my spacey table. Now mind you, I had nothing against the new girl. I'm just…really not good with socializing. "D-demo, Kahoko-sensei…" I mustered. I put on the cutest sad-puppy-look I could manage and stared pitifully at my teacher. Perhaps I could persuade her to change her mind. It always worked on my parents, after all. I forgot that Amu was watching, her lips quivering from the funny thing I was doing. Then, she just burst into laughter.

"Waah! You have such a cute face!" Amu laughed. "Almost like a girl's!"

That comment, that one single comment. Her sentence rang through my head like execution bells. _Cute_? _Like a girl_? I felt anger boil inside me and I threw her a mad glare. My seat clattered to the floor when I stood up. "I don't look like a girl! Don't you _ever _say that again!" I shouted.

I hated being called girly. I absolutely detested it! I was bullied for a whole year because of my looks in my old kindergarten. I figured that, ever since I had transferred to Kokoro Kindergarten, perhaps I'd be treated nicely this time. Yet this girl, with that single sentence, brought back all the horrible memories. My fists clenched tightly as I looked at Amu. It annoyed me all the more to see her look so calm, as if she hadn't done anything wrong. She stared back at me fearlessly, her honey-gold eyes boldly challenging my glare. Then, to my surprise, she put on a pout.

She crossed her arms and straightened up. "Oi, Ebi-kun!" she said. I scoffed at her. _E-ebi_! I wasn't a shrimp. I was fairly tall! "You'll be an old man faster if you keep frowning like that." she declared, pointing accusingly at my face. My cheeks felt hot at her comment. This weird girl had the nerve to judge me! I pointed right back at her, my face hot with anger. "I'm not short! Plus, it's my business if I want to be an old man early!" I chided.

"Do you?"

"Wha - of course not!"

I slammed my hand on my table. "S-stop confusing me!" I seethed. Amu said nothing after that. She just stood there, staring at me with a unfathomable gaze. The whole class seemed to have quieted down to. It seemed as if everything around us was holding its breath, waiting for one of us to speak again. During this time, my anger started to wane. My frown slowly began to disappear, my body relaxed, my breathing became lighter. It was only then that Amu spoke again. A sweet smile appeared on her face. She let out a small giggle, her expression drastically turning cheery again.

"Ah, that's better, Tadase-kun." she said. Taking off her knitted cap, she dipped her head in a low sincere bow. "Gomenasai. Sorry if I hurt your feelings." I was startled when she ran down the room towards me. I took a step back, and she took a step forward. I took a good look at her this time. Somehow, those weird clothes looked good on her. She was kind of cute.

Not that I had noticed, of course.

"Ah!" I gasped when she extended her hand toward me. She was going to hit me! I shielded my face with my arms. My eyes shut closed, I awaited the all too familiar sensation of a punch land on me, the sensation I had felt everyday in my last school.

"Oi, what's wrong?" I heard her say. "Afraid I'm infected or something?"

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at her again. Her hand was harmlessly outstretched towards me, her fingers uncurled and open. "Let's shake hands!" she grinned. I eyed her welcoming hand warily. Was this some kind of trick? In response, Amu moved her hand a bit closer to me.

Slowly, unsurely, I allowed my hand to grasp hers. I flinched as her fingers gently wrapped around mine. Her hands were smaller than mine, but it fit like some kind of fleshy glove. They were also cold, very cold.

"Let's get along, ne?" Amu cocked her head cutely to the side.

I stared back at her in disbelief. She turned around and waved at Kahoko-sensei. "I'll sit with him." Amu cheered, tugging my arm playfully. I looked back to my teacher. I guess she was a bit surprised by this weird pinkette too. Kahoko-sensei cleared her throat a bit and put on a happy smile. "A-ah, hai! If it's okay with you, Tadase-kun." The redhead looked at me expectantly. I let out a small sigh in response. It's not like I had a choice. I reluctantly nodded. "Sure.." I said softly.

With that, Amu let out a big whoop and sat herself down on the seat next to me. "You can call me Amu-chan, Tadase-kun!" I took my seat and eyed her curiously. As _tempting_ as that sounded, I shook my head in response. "Iie. I'll just call you Hinamori-san." I told her, my voice sounding a bit harsher than I wanted.

I watched a small flash of dejection come across my…..seatmate's face, but it vanished as quickly as it came. "Well, it's a start!" she laughed. Just like that, the noise and chatter of the class back. The tension had disappeared and everyone acted like my argument with Amu had never happened. Class was admittedly livelier with that odd pinkette around. Amu was like my complete opposite. While I was content with sitting quietly by myself, she thrived in being surrounded by my classmates. Everyone seemed to forget entirely about her weird look. Even Ayumi ignored her taste in clothes, seeing how she was too busy laughing at Amu's crazy stories. She'd make jokes everyone would laugh at, even I couldn't help but chuckle sometimes. When we'd do group work, Amu always volunteered to do the hardest task.

"E-eh?! Are you sure you can cut all fifty paper hearts by yourself?" Taka worried.

"Nope! But I'll do my best!" Amu cheered.

When Amu wasn't helping everyone out, she'd be bugging me to no end. She'd bombard me with questions. She'd ask how old I was, what my favorite color was, what my hobbies were, and what flavor of ice cream I liked best. "Uh, vanilla." I stuttered.

"Really? Mine is chocolate!" Amu said.

When it was Recess, Amu followed me everywhere. It felt uncomfortable being tailed along, but no matter what I'd say to drive her away, she'd just keep following me. I walked all over the playground to try and lose her, but to no avail. "You're a shy kid, aren't you?" she suddenly told me. I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her. I let out tired sigh and tried my best to keep calm.

"Hinamori-san…"

"Call me Amu-chan!"

"..why are you following me?"

"Because I want to play with you!"

"Why?" I said.

She gave me a look as if I said something stupid, then she laughed. "That's what friends do, dummy!" Amu said. "For someone who gets top marks in our quizzes, you sure don't know much." Friend? When did I consider Amu my friend? In fact, what gave her that idea in the first place?

"Listen, we're seatmates. That doesn't automatically make us friends." I told her. "So stop following me." I turned and headed for the swing set. Since she didn't reply right away, I thought she finally got the message through her thick head. I let myself grin triumphantly. At last! Now I could have some quiet time.

Oh, but luck was a very mean lady. Today, it seemed, would be one where I wouldn't get my way at all. As I had _just_ taken my first few steps to the swing, I felt something snag onto my shirt. I let out a muted gasp as I was pulled back roughly. Arms wrapped themselves around my neck and locked me into a hug. At that moment, I inhaled the scent of strawberries and saw a flash of pink before my eyes. "Ne! Ne!" Amu said. The feeling of her breath against my ear made me shiver. I felt heat rush to my face and I struggled to keep calm under the circumstance.

"N-n-n-nani?" I managed to say.

In response, I felt her arms loosen around my neck. Amu whirled me around, so that now we were both staring at each other. She must've seen the blush on my face, because she immediately giggled at me. "Ah, gomenasai!" She let go of me now that she had my attention and tossed me a somewhat cheeky wink.

"What do I have to do?"

"W-what?"

"To become your friend, what do I have to do?"

I looked at her dumbfounded. _Was this girl serious_? _Couldn't she see I didn't want her company_? I let out a sigh and waved at her dismissively. "Why do you even _want_ to be my friend?" I demanded. I gave her a stern look and, to my surprise, she looked away. Amu took a while to answer. She shuffled her feet a bit, she played around with her fingers. When I looked close enough, I swore I saw just the tiniest tint of red on her cheeks. When she met my gaze again, I could notice a difference in their gleam. Compared to earlier, her eyes were gentler, like in a daze. Her smile was smaller, a sweeter look to them than before. "Because…." I heard her murmur. _Because_? I leaned in closer. Why was she so shy all of a sudden? This was totally out of character. Amu spoke again, but her voice came out as more of a mumble than anything. "Eh?" I grunted.

To my chagrin, she just shook her head and gave me her usual grin again. "Please give me a chance, Tadase-kun! I won't be a bother, promise!" she whined.

Her eyes suddenly began to widen, her lips pursing tightly against one another. I couldn't believe my eyes! Right there and then, this new girl had the guts to use my own tactic against me. She blasted me with the biggest, regrettably most innocent, sad-puppy-face I had ever seen. I felt like I had been impaled by a sword, twice. Oh, the look in her eyes! The technique of her stare, the way she bended her body just right! I did my best to stay strong and remain loyal to my decision. Being around Amu would only make my life more troublesome.

And yet, she persisted. She grabbed my hand with her own and held it close to her chest, consequently dragging me closer to her. Now I was in the frontline of her assault. She was so close to me! I felt my face burn up with embarrassment. I could tell we were starting to catch our classmates attentions, too. I closed my eyes and looked away, hoping that it would allow me enough time to recover from the cute attack, but the sensation of her cold hands around my own kept tugging me back to the reality of the situation.

"Onegai, Tadase-kun!"

My eyes snapped open and shifted back towards her. Amu's face looked up at me like a puppy….no, like a kitten wanting attention from its master. _Really, this girl. _With that last sentence, the last bit of my resistance crumbled. I let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, fine. But don't hug me or hold my hand anymore, okay?" I grumbled.

Amu immediately tackled me, causing both of us to crash into the ground. I felt the wind get knocked right out of me as she hugged me yet again. I struggled to get away from her crushing grasp, but she only tightened it in response. "Yahoo! Arigato, Tadase-kun! I won't be bother to you, honest!" she giggled. I squirmed under her, trying to get myself up again. "J-jyoto! Oi, what did I just say, Hinamori-san?" I shouted.

"Call me Amu-chan!"

"No!"

"But we're friends!"

"You're already breaking your promise!" I whined.

As I looked up, I was shocked to see all of our classmates grinning at us. Each of them had devious looks on their faces. Even Kahoko-sensei was smiling at us, well, more me than Amu.

"Eh?! Amu-chan, why do you want to be friends with grumpy Tadase?" Taka laughed.

"Don't be too rough on him, ne? He's really sensitive." Jun grinned.

"Good for you, Tadase-kun! We'll all support you two!" Ayumi joked.

"Be nice, Tadase-kun" Kahoko sensei chuckled.

I blushed at their comments and shot them the angriest look I could. To that, they merely laughed and smiled some more. Amu was no help at all. She grinned back at them and did this little salute to them. "I'll take good care of Tadase-kun!" she beamed. I looked at her incredulously before attempting to get her off me. But of course, that attempt utterly failed. I let out a frustrated groan.

"Geez, this is so embarrassing!"

"Don't worry, I'll help you overcome your shyness!"

"I-I'm not shy!"

"But your blush even if I just get close to you like this."

"O-oi! That's too close!"

"Hahaha! You're really weird." Amu giggled.

"_I'm_ the weird one?" I huffed.

As I laid there on the dusty floor of the playground, pinned down by a beaming pinkette, surrounded by classmates and teachers that were all laughing along at this unexpected outcome, I had to confess: This wasn't so bad.

N-Not that I'll admit that.

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Well, that's the very first adventure Tadase and Amu have ever had! It took me a while to figure out exactly how they met. In fact, I have three finished versions on how the two of them met. Among them, this one was best. Look forward to the next adventure this odd pair will have!

Rate and Review, please!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, faithful readers and followers! Here is the latest, fluffy adventure of Tadase and Amu. I was really inspired when I wrote this, so I must say my writing wasn't too bad this time. I hope it will really "sweeten your taste buds". However, if you have diabetes, I recommend you don't read this chapter due to the excessive sweetness in it. Ha, I made a joke...and I ruined it...

**Disclaimer's Note: **I do not own any of Shugo Chara!'s canon characters

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**Chapter 2: Ice Cream for Two**

Have you ever tasted ice cream? It's very delicious. It's all creamy and sweet and keeps you cool when it's hot out. I had ice cream every time I went to the park. Of course, I'd always have vanilla ice cream. There was no better flavor than vanilla. All other flavors weren't tasty to me. Or at least, not until she ordered an ice cream.

June was coming to an end; the days were getting hotter and hotter. The usual snacks they served out in Kokoro Kindergarten weren't enough to protect us from the heat. Worst of all, the air conditioning unit broke down. Yup, you heard me. The classroom was like a huge oven that day, baking all the kids inside its walls.

Kahoko-sensei was busy handing out cool juice boxes to the other kids, not minding that she herself was sweating waterfalls from the heat. It was a pitiable sight from my seat. The redhead was busy hopping from one grumpy kid to the other, soothing them with her soft voice. I had always been more tolerable to the heat than most of my classmates so this temperature was still bearable for me. I leaned forward on my table and continued to silently watch the amusing spectacle of sweaty adults hurriedly trying to cool down the kindergartners. It wasn't healthy for the teachers to be running around in that kind of condition. They'd faint, I mused.

That, however, was the least of my concerns.

My mahogany-red eyes shifted to the cheerful silhouette by my side who was busily coloring away at a piece of paper. Her pink hair partially covered her eyes as she worked on her cat drawing, forcing her to pause from her drawing every now and then to push them out of the way. Amu, my seatmate and self-proclaimed best friend, showed absolutely no signs of being disturbed by the lack of cool air in the room. Unlike the others, she wasn't producing bucket-loads of sweat. She barely broke a sweat at all. Some people might think that feat to be not much of a big deal.

Oh, but did I forget to mention Amu was wearing a sweater?

Not only was her black and red-striped sweater thick, it was made of wool. I heard my mother talk about wool once. Wool was a kind of cloth to keep a person warm when the world was too cold. If I had been wearing what my friend was wearing, I'd surely suffer the same fate as my wet colleagues by the other tables. I was impressed by Amu's amazing tolerance to the heat. It was one of her many odd qualities.

"Ne, Amu. Aren't you hot? You're supposed to wear something light in June." I prodded at her shoulder.

She looked up from her drawing and caught my gaze with those dazzling pools of honey-gold. Over the course of two weeks, I was really starting to like those eyes of hers. They were all bright and sunny. It made me feel kind of energized. A small smile grew on her cheery face, her cheeks tinted with the slightest red blush. "I am wearing something light." she told me. Without warning, she lifted up her sweater to reveal the small red tank top hidden underneath that pile of weaved wool. "I'm not wearing a shirt today because it's so hot." I spluttered a gasp and dove for her, quickly pulling her sweater back down. "O-oi! Don't do that!" I stammered. "Don't take off your clothes in front of me! I'm a boy." Amu just giggled and gave me a playful wink. "I thought boys liked that kind of stuff…" she muttered. I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" I said.

She just shrugged at me. "Nothing. It's just something my dad tells me." Amu giggled. She immediately went back to work on her cat drawing. I watched her steady hand carefully draw out the eyes and whiskers of her feline creation. Amu could draw well, that much I knew. She could draw better than all of the students in my class without even trying. She always seemed to float off into another place whenever she started to draw. It was, thankfully, one of the only few blissful times I could play in peace without having to worry about her popping up to start some random conversation.

After a few more minutes of watching her draw, even I became inspired to doodle a bit. I grabbed a sheet of paper from under the table and unpacked the box of crayons I had brought to school. "Hey Tadase-kun, try to draw a lion! That way we can match and Kahoko-sensei will be so impressed that she'll hang our drawings of the wall." Amu suggested. I nodded and set off to work. I decided to use my purple crayon for my lion's mane. I knew that there were no such things as purple lions but I thought it would make the animal cooler.

Let me tell you, my drawings look like garbage compared to Amu's. I made the foolish mistake to take a peek at my seatmate's drawing only to see she had just finished one of the most realistic cat drawings I'd ever seen. I looked back at my own work and grimaced at the pathetic bunch of circles and scribbles that I called a lion. "How's your lion going, Tadase-kun?" I heard Amu's voice call me. Frantically, I hid my drawing under my arms and turned away.

"D-don't look! It's really ugly."

"Art is never ugly, Tadase-kun. Mama always tells me that! Let me see, ne?"

"Ie. No way!"

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Pretty please?"

"I said no!" I snapped.

"Just a peek!" Amu insisted.

She dove at me, knocking us both down with her unbelievable strength. I struggled to keep my drawing hidden as she tried to get at it. "You're going to laugh at me when you see it!" I shouted. Amu, however, ignored and finally managed to rip the paper right from my hands. I let out a small groan and looked away, my face red with embarrassment. Now she'd see how horrible of an artist I was. I heard her giggle and turned to see her actually admiring my work. She looked at me and playfully slugged me in the arm. "Ow!" I said.

"This isn't bad at all! It's really nice." Amu laughed. "You really underestimate your abilities too much."

She helped me up and shoved my drawing in front of me. "You have an awesome sense of color harmony! Not a lot of kids I know are that good." She pointed a dainty finger at my lion's eyes. "Your good at blending colors too!" Before I could protest, she went to grab her drawing from the table and ran up to Kahoko-sensei. "This is more than worthy to be posted!" she smiled at me.

I thought about running after her. But why should I bother? Amu would have her way one way or another. I just sighed and followed her. She was eagerly showing off my drawing to Kahooko-sensei by the time I caught up to her. I could tell that our teacher was surprised at my drawing. _Maybe it's because it's so horrible. _That thought made me frown. I was about to make up an excuse for my pathetic drawing when Kahoko-sensei chimed in.

"I had no idea you were so good with colors, Tadase-kun!" the redhead told me.

"E-eh? Is it really good?" I managed to say.

"Mm. It's really nice to look at! Both these drawings deserve a place on this board. In fact.." Kahoko-sensei went to a drawer, whisking out two large pins. She then went and pinned our drawings at the very top of the board, the highest honor any kindergartner could get for their works. My lion and Amu's cat stood out from all the other papers of perfect scores and colorful collages. Amu was right. Now that I had a good look at it, my lion wasn't so bad after all. I looked back at Amu, the pinkette still admiring our posted work. When she met my eyes, she shot me a peace-sign and flashed that dazzling smile of hers. W-wait, no. It wasn't dazzling. It was a normal smile. Yes, a normal, not-at-all-cute smile that made my heart flutter-no, I meant did nothing to my heart.

I felt my cheeks heat up and looked away from her, earning me a couple of giggles from my eccentric companion. Okay, so her smile made me blush. It wasn't a big deal. Sue me. I'd never admit that her smile was cute. Never in a million years. I dared to face Amu again after I was sure my heart was steady but to my surprise, she had gone off to talk with Kahoko-sensei. From the looks of it, she was suggesting an idea of hers again. Ever since she came, Amu was always full of ideas. Most of them were pretty good but I was always weary of them. Every time she had an idea, I'd always end up dirty or covered with scratches.

"Kahoko-sensei, let's go play in the park!" Amu's voice rang loudly.

I watched her flail her arms around excitedly, gleefully telling our teacher that the park would be better than this "child-oven" and would give more time for our air conditioner to be fixed. A thoughtful gaze crossed the redhead's face. It took a few minutes and a talk with the other staff but in the end, Kahoko-sensei came back and told the whole class,

"Who wants to go on a field trip?"

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

The park was certainly a lot cooler than our classroom. With the large trees giving shade and a cool breeze blowing through the grassy environment, the heat was more than bearable for my classmates. We were allowed to play whatever game we wanted in the park as long as we didn't wander off too far. The teachers kept a close eye on us, just to be sure. If you were in my class, you'd be worried too. The Star Class students were well known for their love of exploring. You'd lose half the class if you looked away for a few seconds.

The odd thing about the whole field trip was that the very pinkette who suggested it wasn't out by the park playground with the rest of the kindergartners. Amu had settled under a tree from the moment we got here. It was weird of her. Well, weirder than her usual self. I expected her to be the ringleader of all that noise and laughter by the swings and monkey bars. Yet here she was, fiddling with the grass that was beside her like a toy low on batteries. I made my way to her, sitting beside her without a word.

She didn't say anything either; moreover, she didn't even greet me with her usual zest and zing. She just sat there, playing with a blade of grass she had plucked. That behavior worried me. Amu wasn't like this. Something was wrong. Maybe she was feeling sick or something? I wouldn't be surprised. Just a while ago, she was stuck in a stuffy room wearing clothes that only doubled the heat. Maybe the heat finally got to her? I outstretched a hand to her, ready to ask her if she felt well, but drew back when I heard a very loud grumble. I flinched and looked at her with a bewildered gaze. It was then that I noticed that her cheeks had gone a bright pink. Her arms wrapped over her stomach as another loud grumble erupted.

I couldn't help but crack a smile at her. So that was it. It all made sense now. The only thing that could ever leave her devoid of her annoyingly cheerful energy was if she was-

"Hungry! Gah, I forgot to bring snacks! I'm not gonna last any longer!" Amu whined pitifully.

She slumped against the tree and slid down into a lying position. I chuckled at her as she snuggled against my shorts like a kitten. "Feed me!" was written all over her face. Her honey-gold eyes looked at me with an almost pleading glint in them. I patted her on the head and laughed. "I've got some money. Want some ice cream?" I offered. Then almost immediately, like I had predicted, she tackled me to the ground in another one of her binding hugs.

"You really are the bestest best friend ever!"

"Y-yes, yes. I know. Now would you let go? You're breaking your promise again!"

"Ah, Tadase-kun, what would I do without you?"

"If you keep squeezing me like this, you'll find out!" I struggled.

She just laughed at me and got up, pulling me right alongside her with a strong tug. I felt her arms link with mine and saw her grinning at me happily. "Let's get ice cream!" she said. I just shook my head, chuckling a little to myself, and led the way to a little cart down the path. I usually bought ice cream from that cart. The owner, Yamada-san, was a nice guy who always gave me big portions. I was sort of like his regular. I came to the park as often as I could. It even became a habit of mine to bring just enough money in case I wanted some of his frozen treats. I waved at him when we were near enough; he was busy fixing up an umbrella to shade his cart from the sun. "Yamada-san!" I called.

He turned away from his work, his chestnut hair partially covering those piercing green eyes of his. You see, Yamada was half British. He worked the ice cream stand every week for some extra money. Unlike other carts, his ice creams were all made by him. I guess that's why they always tasted better than commercial ones. He loved making sweets. He once told me he was planning on becoming a patisserie. Said man waved back at us. "Oi, Tadase-san! Isn't it too early for you to be here?" he chuckled. His eyes shifted from me to Amu. He froze for a moment, his gaze carefully studying my companion. I noticed a small smirk form on his face. He let out a whistle and chuckled at me.

"You didn't tell me you had a lady friend." Yamada said slyly.

I rolled my eyes at him. Yamada knew that I had trouble in making friends. He would take every opportunity he had to remind me. Still, his humor made me laugh. He had good intentions but he could've improved a bit on delivery. "I'll have a vanilla. What do you want, Amu-chan?" I turned to the pinkette clinging to my arm. She let out a thoughtful grunt, her eyes scanning the small menu pasted on the front of Yamada's cart. She eventually decided on chocolate. An eager look sparked in her eyes as she watched Yamada scoop up our orders. She muttered a small thank you to the man when he handed her the cone and dove right into the frozen delight.

"Thanks. Here's the money." I placed the needed sum on his cart but was surprised when he pushed it back. "My treat. It's a special day, no?" he winked at me. I fought back a blush and muttered my thanks before dragging Amu away from him. If we'd stayed any longer, I was sure Yamada would say something to embarrass me in front of Amu. Those two had more in common than I thought. I made a note to never let Amu talk to him alone. They'd crush whatever pride I had in me.

We went back to the tree and enjoyed our ice creams underneath its shade. The feeling of the soft cold on my tongue made the smoldering heat seem non-existent. My whole body felt cooler now. I looked and Amu and found her enjoying the treat more than I did. "Is vanilla your favorite flavor?" she suddenly asked me. "You're always eating vanilla-flavored stuff." I looked at her surprisingly. When did she notice? Sure I loved vanilla a lot but I didn't think she'd be sharp enough to see it through my eating habits. I swallowed a bit of my ice cream and nodded. "Yup. There's nothing better." I told her. She raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled. Without warning, she leaned over and licked off a chunk of my ice cream. "O-oi!" I watched her tongue lap up the white cream that smudged the corners of her lips, doing it in a way that once again made her seem cat-like. "Hmm, it's good. But it's not as good as chocolate! Here, why don't you try?" she eagerly offered her ice cream to me. I shook my head at her. I never liked chocolate. It was too sweet for my taste.

"I don't eat chocolate." I said to her. Amu's face contorted into a look of horror. Her mouth hanged slightly agape while she looked at me dumbfounded. "You don't eat chocolate?! How could you have lived this long without tasting the awesomeness that is chocolate?! Have some of mine. It's really good!" She shoved her chocolate treat near my face. I could smell the nauseating aroma of the flavor. I didn't like it one bit. "No way!" I said, scrambling as far away from the cone as I could. I got up and ran away from her. "Sorry Amu-chan but I really don't like chocolate!" I said as I ran farther and farther away from her. It hurt me when I saw a flash of dejection on her face. I really didn't mean to make her sad, honestly. That guilt, however, was not enough to make me eat that ice cream.

I didn't like chocolate and that was that.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Later that night, I hardly touched my omurice. The image of Amu's sad face kept weighing me down. _I shouldn't be bothered by it! I bet she has stuff she doesn't like to eat too!_ I let out a small sigh and reluctantly scooped a bit of my dinner. The delicious taste of the fried rice and eggs was dampened by my mood. I kept on thinking about how I'd be able to face Amu tomorrow. What if she'd ignore me? Or maybe she'd refuse to speak to me? That thought made me realize how lonely I really was. My life would be really boring without Amu's annoyingly brilliant games and ideas. I was so preoccupied with the thought that I accidentally bit my tongue.

"Ow!" I cried.

My sudden outcry caught my parents by surprise. Mother looked at me worriedly while father paused from chewing. "Did you bite your tongue, dear?" my mother asked. "Is it bleeding?" I shook my head at her, although my tongue really felt sore. My father chuckled softly. "You're thinking about someone, aren't you? I always bite my tongue when I have someone on my mind." he said. My eyes widened at my older lookalike. How did that man know so much about me?

"Well, I kinda….maybe made a friend of mine sad." I told them.

"Well, did you say sorry, dear?" mother said.

"I ran away before I could." I said.

My father sliced a piece of his omurice and ate silently. His eyes were trained on me, so I knew he'd say something when he was done. "Tadase," his voice rung loud and clear. "running away from a problem will just make it worse. You should apologize to your friend and make-up with him as soon as possible." I cleared my throat. Diverting my gaze from both parents, I softly muttered: "He's a she, Otousan."

My father's spoon clattered on his plate as he stared at me in disbelief. "You….have a female friend?" I watched as a tear welled up in his eye. "Mama, our son….." I turned to my mother and saw her teary-eyed too. A proud smile was beaming from her face. She got up and ran to the kitchen. "Mother! My son finally made a girl friend! Let's celebrate!" I heard her giggle from the kitchen. An elderly laugh joined my mother's, a voice whom I recognized to be Sakura-baasan, my grandmother.

My grandmother and mother always hoped and prayed I'd someday have a female friend. They kept nagging me about it every time they could. I really never saw why having a female friend was so important. I guess it was one of those grown-up things. I knew they'd smother me with unnecessary adoration if they found out about me and Amu so I had kept it a secret from them. But right now, I'd need all the cheering from them to give me the courage to face Amu the next day. I heard loud, metallic clattering coming from the kitchen before mother and Sakura-baasan came back with a big platter. "I made this earlier, Tadase-kun. I was going to save it for this weekend but I think you deserve the treat now! It's not every day that my grandson makes a new friend!" my grandmother guffawed. She gently placed a large cake in front of me. Its white cream brightly shone and highlighted the lush strawberries that adorned its outside. My all-time favorite strawberry vanilla cake, a cake that I always loved to eat, was the very last thing I wanted to see at the moment.

The strawberries shared Amu's fruity scent and the vanilla only made me imagine her disappointed face earlier today. I let out a loud groan and slammed my face on the table. "I'm a horrible person!" my cry was muffled due to my arms covering my face but it was enough to send the message to Sakura-baasan. She pushed the cake aside, at least I heard her do it, seeing as how I _couldn't_ see, and went over to tap my shoulder. "Why don't you tell me about more about it in the tea room?" she told me. I looked up at my grandmother, tears clouding around my eyes, and slowly nodded.

I followed after my grandmother silently, her gentle, wrinkled hand tugging me along. My grandmother wasn't one who talked a lot but I could always rely on her to give me good advice. She gave me her best advice when we were in the tea room, a small chamber in my house that Sakura-baasan used to conduct her weekly tea ceremonies. The room smelled of herbs and incense and gave off a calming aura. Maybe that's why my grandmother always stayed in that room. I'd never seen her so much as shout as long as I lived, a feat achieved by very few her age.

She sat down on a cushion by her tea table and pointed at the pillow in front of her. "Come now, tell obaasan what's wrong." her gentle, aged voice soothed away the most of the worry in my heart. Sakura-baasan had that effect on people. She was a natural at healing hearts, whether it was by voice or by tea. I settled down, grunting a bit when I bumped against the table. "My friend, Amu-chan and I went to the park today during class." I began. "The air conditioner had broken down and she asked our teacher if the class could go there, you see. While we were there, she got hungry. I treated her to some ice cream, I got vanilla and she got chocolate, and we were having a great time until….." I bowed my head a bit.

"She was only trying to help, really. I told her I didn't really eat chocolate, you know I hate the taste, and she told me that maybe I'd like it if I tried again. I shouted at her and told her I didn't want to and ran away to play with the other kids. She didn't follow me like she'd usually do. She was frowning at me when I left but she didn't whine or complain like she'd normally do. I watched her while I played with Jun-san and Taka-kun. She was frowning and kept to herself most of the afternoon. When we went back to school to get our stuff, she didn't even say goodbye."

I slumped on the table and sighed. "We always say goodbye to each other before we go home.." I muttered. My eyes searched my grandmother for answers, her soft eyes of gray unreadable. Instead of answering, she scuffled over to a nearby drawer. I watched her silently take out her tea whisk and bowl, bringing two small cups with her as well. She said nothing and opened a small drawer underneath the table. The familiar scent of jade and jasmine filled my nose with their sweet smell.

"T-tea?" I thought aloud.

Sakura-baasan smiled in reply and threw in a few things in the bowl. I didn't really get to see what it was, but I assumed they were tea leaves. "Tadase-kun, be a dear and ask your mother to bring me some cold water." her soft command had me scrambling back to the kitchen and telling my mother of grandmother's wish. Although why she asked me for cold water instead of hot, I didn't know. Grandmother always had tea hot. I came back shortly with a jug of her cool water. "Pour some in here please." my grandmother said. I carefully poured in the right amount of water before placing the jug aside and settling back in my cushiony seat. After that, grandmother began to stir the mixture. Her hands, though aged and worn down from years of use, nimbly whirled the mixutre around flawlessly like a water fairy. You know, watching my grandmother make tea was always exciting, how she'd be able to keep every drop in the bowl despite stirring so quickly. The clear water soon turned into a light red, a hue that sparkled beautifully as Sakura-baasan continued the silent ceremony.

I straightened up when she was nearing the end. I couldn't help it; it was just a good habit. In a single, fluid movement, I marveled as grandmother poured the fresh tea into a small teapot. She whisked out the two cups she had brought and poured the sparkling tea in each of them. "Here, have a sip." She gently pushed one cup to me and nodded. I quietly uttered my thanks and took it, sipping a little bit from the tiny cup. Thank goodness I only drank a little. The tea I drank was not like any tea I'd ever drunk before. It was totally yucky! The bitterness made my tongue back up to the very edge of my mouth and I struggled to keep the disgusting liquid down. With a shudder, I swallowed the bitter tea and looked at my grandmother angrily.

"Obaasan, what tea is this?" I spluttered.

My grandmother had an amused sparkle in her eyes as she cheerfully replied, "Barley. It's a child friendly tea best served cold in hot summers." she replied, taking in a gracious amount of the odd tea herself. "It's really delicious." I eyed this barley tea warily. How was this thing supposed to be tasty. "B-but.." I protested.

"Try drinking it again, it'll grow on you."

I let out a small sigh and shrugged. I knew better than to argue. I took a deep breath, preparing to drink the whole cup without sniffing it, when I saw my grandmother shake her head. "You know very well how rude it is to drink the tea without taking in its whole essence. That includes the smell." she scolded. I whined a bit before taking a small, reluctant sip from my cup. The bitterness was still there in the tea. I shivered again as I forced myself to swallow. Little by little, my cup began to drain until all of its contents were gone. I let out a loud sigh and placed down my cup. "Finished, Obaasan." I said.

My grandmother eyed my cup and nodded. "Very good, Tadase-kun. That wasn't so bad was it? Now let's have one more cup." I didn't even have time to protest as Sakura-baasan poured in more of that awful tea in my cup. She smiled at me expectantly and pushed my cup back to me. I groaned inwardly. _How is this supposed to help me_? I took the cold tea again, expecting to taste that same bitter taste, and found that it wasn't as bitter as it first was. My eyes widened in disbelief. It actually tasted pretty sweet! I found it easier and easier to gulp down the tea. I admit that I even found it pretty tasty. When I finished the last drop of the Barley Tea, I licked my lips in satisfaction and placed the cup down. I saw a smug grin on my grandmother's face and chuckled at my naïve comment earlier.

"Not as bad as you thought, Tadase-kun?"

"Hai. I guess I just needed to give it a chance."

"All tea is delicious, it's just that sometimes their tastes might not appeal to other people." Sakura-baasan took a sip of her own tea before continuing. "Your father drinks Oolong and dislikes Jasmine; your mother likes Jasmine and dislikes Oolong. Both teas are sweet but are different in their own way. After I encouraged them to try what they disliked, your parents came to appreciate the teas they didn't like. They found that sometimes something different can actually be good if given a chance." She offered me some more Barley Tea, an offer I quickly took. I watched a rather solemn smile come over her as she poured me more tea.

"Do you understand, Tadase-kun?"

I stared into my cup of tea, pondering on what my grandmother just said. Tea? What did tea have to do with my –

"Different isn't bad….if you look at it more kindly.." I muttered.

I looked incredulously at my grandmother who, at the moment, was just smiling at me, enticing me to continue. "I only thought that chocolate was bad so I didn't even listen to Amu….when she told me it was really delicious…" I mentally face-palmed myself for being so stupid! How could I have been so narrow? Amu was only being nice and I completely turned her down. I had to make it up to her. But how? How?! I let out a loud groan and pushed my cup aside, leaving space for my head to rest on the cool surface of the tea table. "What should I do, Obaasan?" I said quietly. I waited for a reply, a clue from my grandmother to help me fix this mess I got myself into. When she answered, it came as cryptic as all her advices were. It was a puzzle for me to solve and, honestly, I might have just solved it the moment she said it.

"Did you know I made chocolate cake too, Tadase-kun?"

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

I stood nervously before the kindergarten. All my classmates and schoolmates rushed by me, all eager to get in their rooms and play with their friends. I was unsure if I still had one to greet. That thought made me feel sick. I looked at my mother and shuffled my feet shyly. "Okaasan, I don't know about this…" I muttered. I felt her hand lightly ruffle my hair, her even voice laughing good-heartedly at me. "Just go talk to her. You'll be fine." she said. With that being said, she gently pushed me towards the building. I gulped loudly, my hands tightly gripping the small paper bag that I had been holding onto since breakfast.

I made my way inside the building, following the open corridors towards a rather large door with a star emblem on it, my classroom. I took in a deep breath and slid the door open. "Ohayo.." I said softly. My classmates greeted me in return before they resumed their playing about. I quickly put my bag in my respective cubby and immediately went to search for Amu. My eyes scoured the whole classroom for that distinctive mass of pink hair. I searched for those honey-gold eyes that lit up the whole room with laughter and fun. Where was Amu?

It took me a while but I finally singled her out at the corner of the room. She was quietly tending to a small obento box, excluding herself from the rousing game of tag everyone else was playing. It was a very un-Amu-like thing to do. Most mornings when Jun would start playing tag, Amu would have been the first one to join in the game. I made my way over to her, a small knot forming in the bottom of my stomach. _What if she'll ask me to go away? What if she'll ignore me? What if-_

"Ah, Tadase-kun! Over here! I'm over here!"

The sudden, melodic chime of her voice caught me off guard. My eyes zoomed in on her, delighted to see that she was calling for me. I didn't know why I did it but I found myself running to her as she beckoned me over. She met me half way and tackled me with one of her usual greeting hugs. "I thought you were absent today!" she giggled gleefully. After enjoying a couple more seconds squeezing the air out of my lungs (_again_), she happily shoved the obento she had been holding towards me. "I made this for you!"

Curious, I put aside my paper bag by a nearby table and took her little gift. "What is it?" I asked, eagerly beginning to unlock the cover of the small box. Amu just laughed at me. "Open it and see, silly!" she said. When I got the cover off, I was surprised to see an array of sweets. Vanilla sweets. There were vanilla bonbons and vanilla pocky sticks, vanilla candy and vanilla pudding. There was even a vanilla-covered cookie in the array of white treats. I gawked at the mouth-watering treats that lay before me.

"You made this?"

"Yup! My mama helped me out on the bonbons and cookies though."

"B-but how….Why..?"

"Well, I felt kind of bad that I was forcing you to eat something you didn't like and…" Amu looked away.

I saw her shuffling her feet anxiously, a goofy grin plastered on her blushing face. "I wanted to make it up to you! I stayed up all night to make them just right! They're the best home-made sweets in the world." Amu put on a smug grin at the last part, clearly proud of her accomplishment. I didn't blame her. How many kindergartners did I know who knew how to bake? None.

I looked at the appealing array of white treats, eager to take a bite out of those lovely bonbons, when I realized my whole reason for looking for Amu. I placed down the obento box on the same table near me and took back my paper bag. "Actually, I wanted us to eat this first. My Obaasan made it." I pushed the bag towards her, looking away so as to hide the tint of pink staining my cheeks. What can I say? A boy's got to have his pride.

The pinkette eyed my package curiously before taking it. She closed her eyes, her nose taking in the smell that peaked out of the bag, and snapped them open in shock. "Isn't this…?" she began.

"Chocolate? Yeah. Since it's your favorite, I thought I'd bring you a slice of the cake."

"But you hate chocolate…"

"I don't really eat it, yes."

"Then why do you want to eat it with me-" Amu questioned.

"I-if you feed it to me, I guess I can stomach it." I quickly blurted out.

I pointed at the bag, refusing to look my friend in the eye because of the tomato-red state my face was in. "There are spoons there…" I muttered. I heard the sound of rummaging and the metallic clinking of the spoons. I slowly turned to take a look Amu and found her already neatly placing the slice of chocolate cake on the table. She dragged a couple of seats to us and sat down, motioning for me to sit in the vacant one. A suspicious look glared on her face. "Are you sure you wanna do this? I'm really not forcing you to…" she reminded me.

I nodded in response and braced myself for what was to come. "Just make it a small piece." I replied. With a small shrug, she broke off a piece of the brown cake with a spoon. I watched her eyes catch mine and I could tell by the way they were beaming that she was excited. "Say 'aah'!" she mused. I did exactly as she said and received the small slice of chocolate cake. The overbearing sweetness immediately began to fill my mouth. It's deep, earthy flavor assailed my taste buds in a sickeningly over-sweet attack. Yet as I did my best to keep the food in my mouth, I couldn't help but notice Amu happily smiling at me. It made me want to try a bit harder. So I closed my eyes and focused on nothing but the cake in my mouth. As I chewed, the overbearing sweetness soon melted away into a comforting embrace of sweet and bitter. The soft, bland taste of the cake had dulled the sweetness of the chocolate cream and actually made the pastry quite enjoyable. I didn't notice until after I was finished but I even began to smile as I finished my small piece of cake.

When I opened my eyes, I found my pinkette companion practically beaming at me. "See? See!? It's awesomely delicious, isn't it?" she giggled. I paused for a moment. It really wasn't that bad. Not as bad as I'd thought. I eagerly nodded in response. "Mm. It was really tasty. You were right." I chuckled.

A cheeky grin stretched across my friend's face. "I know." Amu said. "Now open up for the next bite!"

The next spoonfuls of my grandmother's cake were truly delicious. Chocolate really wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be. The cake was so delicious that I also ended up feeding Amu spoons of the cake. We took our turns putting a piece of the cake in each other's mouths. We even made it into a kind of game. It was really fun. By the time the cake was gone, I was still hungry for more chocolate. Amu laughed at my comment and playfully slugged me in the arm. It hurt, as it did every time, but I laughed sincerely this time. I was in a good mood now. Amu wasn't mad at me at all and I found a way to make it up to her. "We could go to the park after class and get more ice cream from Yamada-san!" Amu suggested. "Only this time, I'll order vanilla and you order chocolate."

She extended her arm towards me and shot me a grin. "Deal?" she said. I smiled at her and chuckled before shaking the hand she offered to me. "Deal. Now let's get back to our seats. Class will start in a few minutes." I said. That afternoon, I really surprised Yamada-san when I gave him our orders. He embarrassed me in front of Amu on how picky I was before and thanked her for "fixing" my problem. I became as red as a tomato again but it made me happy to see Amu laughing. It's what best friends do I guess, they make each other laugh. As for the chocolate ice cream?

It really tasted sweet.

* * *

There's the second chapter for you! Well, was it good enough for you? Not too sweet? Not to bland? Why don't you tell me about it in the reviews? You all know how helpful reviews are! Expect the next chapter within the week! I'm on a roll right now. I hope, for your sake as well, that I keep on rolling. Little spoiler for the next chapter: yellow and fluffy.


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